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Throwback Thursday: 1968 Charger R/T

The Charger is one of the most recognizable silhouettes of all the muscle cars of the 60s (its roles in the movie “Bullitt” and the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard” didn’t hurt), and it was also one of the biggest –selling muscle cars of the ’68 model year. Of the 100k or so Chargers sold for ’68, well over 17,000 of them were R/T models. So what makes a Charger an R/T?

Front anti-roll bar

Heavy-duty front torsion bars

Heavy-duty shocks and rear leaf springs

But most importantly…the 440 V8.

The Charger was entirely restyled for ’68, with a slick coke-bottle profile and concealed headlights, and the 375-horsepower 440 Magnum V8 was also pretty fresh, having been introduced the previous year. If that wasn’t enough, you could order the R/T with the 426 Street Hemi V8. Underrated at 425 horsepower, the 426 put out so much torque that the rear half of Hemi-powered Chargers had to feature beefed-up spring shackles, shock mounts, axle mounts and other body/drivetrain alterations to head off metal fatigue and stress fractures.

The result was a car that could do a quarter-mile in well under 14 seconds, with a top end of around 150 mph , a stiff ride and much flatter handling than most of its contemporaries.

Considering the scarcity of ’68 Chargers in today’s day and age, as well as the premium prices they bring on the collector’s market, it makes it even more troubling to see the way dozens of them were demolished in “The Dukes of Hazzard”!